Hosted by the Reshma for Congress Innovation Advisory Board
Moderator:
Jonathan McClelland, Director of MJ Beck Consulting; President of the NY Association of Energy Economists
Confirmed Panelists:
Evan Conley, Business Development Director of Rentricity
John Humphrey, President of Sollega
Micah Kotch, Director of Operations, NYC ACRE (Accelerator for a Clean and Renewable Economy) at Polytechnic Institute of NYU
Carl Liggio, Managing Partner at Pharos Enterprise Intelligence, LLC; formerly Director of Commercial Strategy and Alternative Energy Programs at US Power Gen
Amanda Parkes, Bodega Algae
John Reese, SVP, US Power Gen; formerly Sr Policy Advisor at NYS Public Service Commission; formerly VP Government/Regulatory Affairs at Reliant Energy
Tom Scaramellino, CEO of Efficiency 2.0
Reshma Saujani, Democratic Candidate for Congress (NY-14)
Mei Shibata, Co-Founder at ThinkEco Inc.
WHEN
July 27, 2010 at 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
WHERE
Buzzd HQ
833 Broadway
Floor 3
New York, NY 10003
I was not even aware. I just happened by my personal dashboard on the Reshma 2010 website in the course of gathering info for the clean tech event Tuesday, and I saw for the first time that I had recruited 60 people to the cause. Heck, I am impressed. Looks like I can do more for Reshma 2010 by blogging than by making phone calls or knocking doors, all of which are important. All these recruits recruited themselves. They must have come to my blog and signed up on their own. I did not actively solicit, although I do recognize some friends on the list.
60 supporters
4 volunteers
2 donors
2-31 potential voters
I am impressed with myself. What can I say?
This blog does well when you do a search on the Reshma Saujani name. I hope I can send more supporters the campaign's way as we move closer and closer to September 14 and more and more people conduct searches on her name online.
The biggest catch has got to be Sree Srinivasan, who is the most networked Desi in New York City that I know of. Having Sree on board is a big deal, but not at all surprising. He is going to bring many, many others on board.
Reshma Saujani has no plans to run for Speaker when she enters the House this fall, or at least not that I am aware of. After Reshma wins the Democratic primary on September 14, her total focus is going to be on Obama's national effort to keep the House and the Senate. Here in New York City we only have primary elections, the general election is a mere formality. We are not going to take the November election for granted, but we expect to be comfortable enough to make a serious contribution to the national effort.
If you missed out on her fundraising firestorms during Kerry 2004, Hillary 2008 and Reshma 2010 so far, you should check her out then. You will not know what to do with all the money she will raise for the national effort.
Before word gets out - and word does get out fast in this information age of ours - that I put out a blog post comparing Al Sharpton to Carolyn Maloney, (Carolyn Maloney: The Al Sharpton Of Gender Relations) and somebody prints out the post and hands it over to Al Sharpton and Al Sharpton gets all offended, I wanted to put out a new post making it absolutely clear that I admire Al Sharpton, I always have.
Reverend - he is one, is he not; I don't want to be seen confusing him with Jesse Jackson (I am not one of those who don't know Africa is not a country) who I have been honored to meet in person (I have seen Sharpton in person although never got a chance to shake his hand) - Sharpton is a pretty cool guy, if you think about it. (Jesse Jackson On Martin Luther King Boulevard)
When I got to see him up close, I remember thinking, I am not sure I want that on my head, but the guy sure has fancy hair.
He ran for president four years before Obama did. People say Jesse Jackson running for president paved the way for Obama. But those people forget that Sharpton also helped pave the way. Granted Jackson is bigger than Sharpton - one is like Gandhi, another like Nehru - but that does not make Sharpton insignificant by comparison. He does deserve a small mention.
When Sharpton ran for president, he was often considered the most articulate of all candidates. What failed his talents was a lack of field organization, a lesson Obama totally took to heart four years later. Would you dispute that?
Sharpton is a go to guy. People who run for office in this town routinely seek out his advice, especially on issues of race relations, but also on bread and butter issues in general.
He has had a political career, he is one of the most well known community activists across the country, and I think he also owns a radio station, which would make him a media guy. I know about that radio station part because Hillary would call in asking for his support when she was running for president and the Reverend would tactfully tell her he was still studying the candidates and weighing his options. That is how I knew he was secretly on our side. That was a time when blacks across the city and the country were falling like flies into the Clinton camp giving us Obama people the scare: if Barack can't even get black people, how will he get white people? Al Sharpton displayed much grace under that pressure. At some level I feel about him the way I feel about Caroline Kennedy. They were there for us Barack people when it counted.
I remember, my candidate Obama showed up for an event in Harlem at the Apollo Theater in Fall 2007. He had dinner with the decidedly neutral Sharpton who after that dinner told the press people, "This black brother eats soul food. How bad can he be?" I could not have come up with that quote if I tried.
Once in a while the Reverend is known to get agitated, but you would too if you had been black in America the past so many decades. We all have a little steam to blow.
He is one of the few liberals known to always be ready to debate Bill O'Reilly. That is a positive quality.
When I showed up for John Liu's inauguration and the after party, I got the sense that John Liu feels like Bill Thompson deserved to have another shot at the top job. It was not explicit, but it was implied, it was in the air. And that was a statement to how genuinely and strongly John Liu felt about Thompson's candidacy. They really like each other. Thompson's margin was closer than anyone thought, way closer than I expected.
Personally I was rooting for Bloomberg for deeply personal reasons. (Independent For Bloomberg) And I really liked the emphasis on immigration and immigrants that the Mayor put during the inauguration ceremony. Immigration colored the entire inauguration ceremony. (The Dumbfuck Immigration Laws) I loved that. He has been an excellent Mayor. He is a personal hero of mine. (Larry Ellison) He not only brought business sense to city government procedures, running for and being Mayor has been the best business move he ever made. Look at what that did to his net worth. His company's market valuation went up and up.
And it was great to have John show up for this Holi event put together by the Madhesis in town: Happy Holi. He did not show up for the votes. There were hardly any voters in the room. I greatly appreciated that. Although I feel like I have a doctor-patient relationship with the Madhesis of New York City. ("Madisey") Internalized prejudice is as big a problem as prejudice.
But then there are friendships, political loyalties, party affiliations, and then there is politics.
My Number One Prediction For 2013
All sorts of motherfuckers are going to run for Mayor in 2013. It is going to be one crowded Democratic primary. There is going to be no particular itch for Bill Thompson. If it is going to be Bill Thompson's year, the dude is going to have to prove himself all over again, almost from scratch.
That is going to be a statement on the long shadow Mayor Bloomberg has cast over this city for a decade. People are not going to wait in line. There is no line. There never has been. You don't wait in line. That is not how democracy works.
Three Years: A Very Long Time In New York City Politics
John Liu doing a good job as City Comptroller for three years and being in the news for three years is not going to be the same John Liu who spoke at his inauguration and introduced his brothers "Bobby and Teddy." The only reason for John to not run for Mayor would be because he feels it is better to seek guaranteed reelection than to take an iffy shot at the mayoral office.
The problem with that risk averseness is if he does a lousy job as Comptroller, his reelection is not going to be guaranteed. If he does a good job, it is going to be very hard for him to resist the enormous grassroots pressure he is going to feel to run for Mayor. Motherfuckers are not going to shy away and make room for Bill Thompson - already people are like Bill who; the same thing happened to Fernando Ferrer, two months after election day people were like, Fernando who - but many of the motherfuckers are going to wilt and wither if John Liu shows up as candidate. He is going to have a Bloomberg like aura for having done a good job as Comptroller.
One Shot: The American Way
Howard Dean did not run for president again in 2008. If it is about running for City Council, you can try it out a few different times, maybe, but that does not apply to the major offices. The office of Mayor of NYC is the number two political office in America. It is a big one. I don't see Bill Thompson even running. 2000 was close for Al Gore also. He did not run again in 2004.
Black Power?
Paterson imploded. Rangel is imploding. Thompson has evaporated already. Bill Perkins is the only black guy in town who appreciated the idea of the first black president. I am surprised he is not running for Congress from Harlem.
12% of America is black. 12% of New York City is Asian. Blacks have had their day. It is time for some Asian power.
As for Rangel, I think I am going to save my compassion for the tsunami victims.
Having What It Takes
John Liu has what it takes. He has the political ingredients. Either you have them, or you don't. John Liu has them. Just look at some facts. No politician in town today is on better terms with labor than John Liu. How did he do that? You got to marvel. He is more popular with blacks than any black politician in town. How did he do that? He earned more votes than Bloomberg last year. How did he do that? The story from last year's election is not that Thompson's margin was close, but that Liu got more votes than Bloomberg. John Liu could have beat Bloomberg, Thompson was not able to. Bill Thompson failed.
2013 Or Never
I am making the judgment call that either John Liu is going to be Mayor in 2013 or he is never going to be Mayor. Democracy asks for basic humility. It is ultimately the voters who decide, and that's the way it should be.
First of all, if he decides not to run despite being the best candidate around, that is going to show he has good political judgment but not good enough.
Second, his not running will mess up all future rounds for him. Look at a few scenarios. Someone else wins. If that person is Democratic, and is so bad that he/she is destined to be a one term Mayor, Liu still could not run in 2017. If he/she is good, Liu can not run until 2021. But if the 2013 person is a one term Mayor, and some other Democrat wins in 2017, that will bar Liu from running against the incumbent in 2021.
Obama needed to run in 2008 or he was just another Evan Bayh. Only John Liu can decide if he will run for Mayor in 2013. But if he runs, I am predicting he will win. (Jupiter And Obama) My grade for work done so far as Comptroller is an A+. If he runs, many of the motherfuckers who might otherwise run will stay out. That is not going to be true if Bill Thompson runs. John Liu has been casting a long shadow. That is remarkable for a dude who is not a billionaire. His power and potential for more power comes from sheer political skills. That is remarkable. That is beyond outstanding.
I like Al. He is a good guy. He has made his effort. I credit him for that. He has done what he could. But we needed a Barack Obama to come along and take race relations in this country to a whole new level.
Similarly Carolyn Maloney should plot a gracious exit from the stage and let Reshma Saujani take gender relations in this country to a whole different level. Carolyn tried. She gets credit for trying, but it's time to move on.
One day when the blue jackal was holding court, he heard a gang of jackals howling. Thrilled by the sound of his own ilk, Kakudruma began loudly responding in his natural voice. The lions and other animals immediately recognized that their king was after all a jackal and not a Godsend.
I have been saying at this blog time and again that the essence of Maloney is that she is not a blue jackal, I mean she is a Bush Democrat. And today she proves me true. She howls.
Read on the latest articles about her. It is possible to read every new article that comes up, so far they have been about one a day, or were. Now they are 2-3 a day.
Leave a comment every time there is an option to leave a comment. There are no talking points. You say what you want to say.
Email, good old email. It is still the best way to get hold of people. Email people you know. Send them to the Reshma Saujani campaign website: www.reshma2010.com
They are similar to each other. They are all efforts to reach out to voters. If you think about it the digital methods are the most efficient in some ways and the cheapest. And they are the most scalable. Not all volunteers can show up at the campaign headquarters to make phone calls for a few hours every day, but all volunteers can go online on their own and do some digital volunteering.
